CNET Update: Microsoft pushes Office subscriptions

CNET Update: Microsoft pushes Office subscriptions

2:55 /
January 29, 2013

The newest version of Office can also be had for an annual fee, Apple's iPad gets more storage, and sites stream the Super Bowl for free.

Would you subscribe to Microsoft Office?
I'm Bridget Carey and this is your CNET update.
Microsoft's Office 2013 is now available for download but this time around, there are several versions of Office and some go by the name of Office 365 and require a yearly subscription.
Microsoft made this a bit confusing.
So, here's the breakdown.
If you just want a copy of Office for the home, it comes with Word,
Excel, PowerPoint and One Note and that's a one time fee of $140.
But you only get that from one computer in the house and you don't get Outlook Publisher and access Microsoft with, rather, you choose the subscription model for $100 a year.
That price has the complete set of Office programs and users get updates when available.
The subscription is called Office 365 and it could be installed on five computers instead of one.
Subscribers also get 20 gigs of storage space online and an hour of free
Skype calls every month.
Microsoft's executive say that in ten years, they see everyone's subscribing and treating Office as more of a service.
The new Office was designed to play nice with touchscreens, streamlining, many comment tasks to require only a couple of clicks.
Be sure to read our full review to see if the new Office is a good fit for your needs.
The reports were true.
Apple said it would offer a 4th generation iPad with 128 gigs of storage starting February 5th.
The WiFi only version will
cost $800 and a cellular version will cost $930.
It's just a minor update giving the tablet double the storage capacity.
That would be better for business users who load up the tablet with large files and it's coming out right before the new Microsoft Surface Pro Tablet hits stores.
Facebook updated its mobile iOS app adding voicemail and video recording options, as well as updates to nearby listings.
Facebook added these options to the Android app last week.
This Sunday you can watch the Super Bowl
from your computer.
CBSSports.com will be streaming the game as well as the half time show and you can pull up the commercials.
NFL.com is also live streaming the game for free and Verizon subscribers can watch the game from their Apple of Android mobile device using the free NFL mobile app.
We're keeping our eye on Open Table, a service for online restaurant reservations because it just bought Food Spotting for $10 million.
Food Spotting is a website and app for people to share photos of their meals.
And speaking of food, you can
dine like a top chef with the iPhone app called Find.
Eat.
Drink.
Culinary professionals rate their favorite places to eat, drink and grocery shop all over the globe, so you can find a gem in your neighborhood or while you're traveling on vacation.
That's your tech news update, for more details, you can head to the blog cnet.com/update.
From our studios in New York, I'm Bridget Carey.